Thick and Thin
by Vernie
Summary: When Cameron becomes ill, Wilson takes it upon himself to help her through her ordeal. Wilson/Cameron
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Wilson had found refuge in his office that day, eating his hot hoagie by himself, feet propped up on his desk, radio playing some old jazz music.

He hadn't eaten in the hospital cafeteria since Amber had passed. It brought back too many painful memories of lunch dates taken between patients. He couldn't face all of those sympathetic faces. He was still alive yet everyone was feeling sorry for him, not the woman whose life ended much too soon.

He would often listen to his music loud, trying to drown out the sad thoughts that crept into his head. It had, after all, only been six months. Sure, House had tried to lure him out of his office with the promise of paying for lunch but Wilson had always declined.

He preferred to be on his own during those 30 minutes. Time to clear his mind for his next round of afternoon patients.

Wilson set down his sandwich to grab for his soda when he felt someone looking down on him.

It was Cameron. She was standing there in her ER scrubs looking a bit uncomfortable. He drew his brows together curiously. Cameron never visited his office unless it was about….

Wilson quickly grabbed for the remote of his stereo, turning it down to a more modest level.

"Well hello there Dr. Cameron. How are you this afternoon?" he asked with a smile, hoping House hadn't done anything too stupid this time. He remained seated casually at his desk, foot tapping atop it.

"I'm just fine Wilson…" she replied quietly. There was an odd pause, one Wilson perhaps knew too well.

"And I'm hoping I don't owe Dr. House my thanks for this particular visit?"

She quickly shook her head.

"I-I…" she stammered a bit. "I'm here because I discovered a lump," she said quietly, "in my left breast while I was in the shower. I-I know it's probably nothing, but…I mean…I don't want to be a bother." She seemed apprehensive about discussing such a personal matter with a colleague, her face starting to look slightly flush.

Wilson quickly turned off the stereo, removed his feet from his desk, and pushed his lunch to the side. "Cameron, you're not being a bother. It's my job," he assured her. "Let's see," he said as he scanned his afternoon agenda quickly. "I'm pretty booked up this afternoon… Wait, I think I can squeeze you in. Does four o'clock work for you?"

"Yes. Yes, that would be fine," Cameron replied with a slight smile. "Thank you Dr. Wilson. I'll see you this afternoon."

She seemed nervous, but it was understandable. Wilson had dealt with this many times before; any normal human would be troubled at the thought that they might have cancer. Even a small lump, after all, could be a huge deal.

He watched as she left, the door closing behind her, and for some reason he had a bad feeling.


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter 1**

Cameron spent the rest of the day trying to keep her mind off of her impending appointment with Wilson. Still as she sutured wounds, administered IV drugs, and admitted several patients her mind still wandered back to the appointment.

It had been over two weeks since she had discovered the lump in her breast. At first she was scared and had denied anything could be wrong, but the doctor in her told her that she should know better. Many times she'd seen patients who had ignored their ailments for too long to ultimately die of something completely treatable. Today was the day she told herself to go talk to Wilson, to get the appointment over with so she could go about her life.

Allison Cameron was the picture of good health. She ate healthy, exercised, and hadn't been ill in over five years. But she knew that wouldn't mean anything if it was cancer. She had experienced the tragedy cancer brought to it's patients many times. Her thoughts went back to her late husband and how he had suffered through the last weeks of his life.

She fought back her tears as she put away her last patient of the day's chart.

"Cam, hun, you okay?" Layne, one of the ER nurses, asked.

"Yes, fine. I, uh, have to take off a bit early today. Dr. Barra is taking my remaining patients."

Layne nodded and said good-bye as Cameron left.

X x

Wilson's nurse showed Cameron to the exam room, handed her a flimsy Princeton-Plainsboro gown and told her to remove all clothing above the waist.

"Dr. Wilson should be with you shortly," she added.

Cameron sat on the exam table as she nervously waited, shivering a bit in the cold exam room. She stared at the clock as ticked away until there was a quiet knock at the door and Wilson appeared before her, chart and pen in hand.

"Hello Cameron," he said as he glanced up at her. "Sorry for the wait. You know how it is."

She nodded.

"So, how long ago did you discover the lump in your breast, Cameron?"

"About two weeks ago," she answered nervously.

He glanced up at her in surprise while making a note on her chart. She knew what he was thinking--Why had she waited so long?

"Have you been feeling any different lately?" he asked.

She paused. "I did put on a little weight, but that might be because Baskin Robbins became my best friend after Chase left," she replied sheepishly.

Wilson tried not to smile. Over-consuming ice cream was probably the worst "crime" Cameron had ever committed in her lifetime.

He knew she had probably been having a rough time since Chase left. Three months earlier he had been offered, and accepted, a fantastic job in Chicago. He left without a second thought about Cameron and their year-long relationship. Everyone in the hospital had been gossiping that maybe they would get engaged, but it didn't happen. He hadn't talked to Cameron much over the past few months but he could tell from her answer that the whole situation was still bothering her.

"Alright, let's have a look," he said, moving on. "You'll need to open up the front of your gown and lie back on the table for me."

Cameron blushed as she eased back onto the exam table and untied the front of her gown, letting it drop open. She jumped a bit at Wilson's touch. "Sorry," she whispered.

"Relax Cameron. This is the least invasive part of what I do," he said with a small laugh. He knew it wasn't easy to have a colleague examine you, especially in such a personal way. Not that he thought anything of it, he had done so many breast exams it was just a routine part of his day.

Still Wilson tried his best to keep her at ease as he examined both of her breasts. When he got to her left breast, he paused a minute as he palpated the side just below her armpit. Cameron noticed how his eyebrows knit together as he did so.

"Been having any breast pain?" he asked.

"No."

"Okay, you can cover yourself up Cameron," he said turning back to her chart. "Your right breast feels clear. Your left breast appears to have two lumps. One larger one--probably the one you discovered yourself--and a smaller one."

"Two?" she asked nervously as she retied her gown and sat back up.

"We'll do an ultrasound to find out if they're just cysts. That's more typical in a young woman such as yourself." He laughed at himself a little. "Look who I'm telling--one of PPTH's best doctors."

She smiled slightly.

"There's no need to be nervous yet. It's most likely benign."

She nodded. "It's just that my aunt…and my grandmother…the both passed away from breast cancer."

He didn't say anything, but he could feel the worry welling up inside of himself. He tried his best not to let Cameron tell.

"If the ultrasound is negative for cysts, we'll go ahead and do a mammogram."

"Okay…" Cameron replied knowing the drill.

After Wilson administered the ultrasound revealing the lumps were indeed not water-filled cysts, he took her to mammography. He usually didn't run the test himself, but it was late in the day and everyone else in the office had already left.

"Have you ever had a mammogram Cameron?" he asked as he set up the mammography equipment.

"No."

"I suppose I don't have to tell you it isn't the most comfortable procedure," he said before leaving the room and sitting behind the glass wall. Watching her she looked nervous and uncomfortable, extremely so.

"I'll let you know Monday Cameron," he said after she had dressed, as it was getting late. "Have a good weekend."

She smiled. "You too, Wilson."

X x

Saturday morning after Wilson had finished up some extra paperwork he had been neglecting, he glanced over the film of Cameron's mammogram. He swallowed hard. There was something he had missed during the breast exam in her right breast--a lump too small to feel through the tissue.

Although Wilson wasn't thoroughly convinced yet it was breast cancer, he filed the film away in a filing cabinet in his office and sighed. He would need to do a biopsy to confirm, but the mammogram didn't look good.

He was starting to worry that he would have to do something he dreaded--diagnose a friend with cancer.

**A/N: **The only thing I know about breast cancer and the tests that go along with it is what I have researched on the internet for this story. If you see any discrepancies, feel free to tell me.

**P.S. Vernie hearts reviews!**


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter 2**

Cameron returned home Sunday night exhausted after having worked a 16 hour shift in the ER. She immediately changed out of her scrubs and took a long soak in the tub. After putting on her bathrobe, Cameron peeped into the fridge, picking over the few remaining contents that remained--an old apple, a half package of lunch meat, and the Styrofoam takeout box of leftover chicken alfredo from her lunch with Foreman four days ago. She quickly closed the fridge door, reaching instead for a bottle of wine from her wine rack.

Life had proven to be a bit stressful since Cameron had started working in the ER. It was a drastic change from the usual regular hours working under House in the diagnostics department. Long hours and erratic shift changes were not uncommon in the ER. She had barely found time to stock her cabinets anymore, and her job had been especially stressful this week.

But part of her was thankful for the added workload of the Emergency Room. She had hated it when she was with Chase--not having enough time to spend with him, but these days less time at home meant less time alone. Her life now seemed to revolve around her job which seemed to ward away the loneliness that had crept into her life the past few months.

As Cameron checked the messages on her answering machine she settled onto her couch with the television remote, flipping aimlessly through the hundreds of channels.

"Cameron, this is Wilson," the first and only message played from her machine. "If you can come in tomorrow morning I'd like to discuss your mammogram with you."

Cameron replayed the message again, paying attention to the tone in Wilson's voice--it was unreadable. She erased the message from the machine and turned off the television before finally dragging herself to bed.

X x

Wilson stood in his office that morning studying the mammogram film. A needle biopsy would not prove to be difficult judging by the location of the lumps.

"Care to come out of your cave today, Batboy?" House's voice asked from behind him and Wilson turned around to meet his friend's gaze. "I have coupons for Hooter's," he added with raised eyebrows. "Free lap dance with an order of chicken wings."

"And since when do the Hooter's girls give lap dances?"

"Since I hooked them up with discount birth control," House replied with a grin. Wilson shook his head. He was trying extra hard to lure him from his office today.

"I'll leave you to your crime-fighting then. Anyways," House said peering at the film. "It looks like you have some bad news to give anyway."

"I haven't done the biopsy yet," Wilson replied. "Could be fat necrosis."

"And when did you become the doctor of wishful thinking?" House asked before turning to leave, bumping into Cameron on the way out of the door.

"Ahh…you seem like someone who'd appreciate a good lap dance," he commented when he saw her.

Cameron frowned. "I left my singles in my other scrubs," she replied dryly.

House glance at Wilson, shrugged, and went about his way.

Wilson shut the door as House left with a slight smile. "He's using clinic duty to his advantage again."

But Cameron ignored his words, studying the mammogram. "It's cancer, isn't it?" she asked quietly.

"I'd like to do a biopsy," Wilson simply answered.

"Is there much point?"

"Cameron, you know as well as I do that 85 of lumps in women your age turn out benign. Let's take this one step at a time."

Cameron remained silent.

"I'd like to do this as soon as possible," he went on. "Do you have time later today?"

She nodded, looking helplessly at the images before her.

Wilson placed his hand on Cameron's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze, and she forced a smile.

X x

Cameron met Wilson at the end of the day. She seemed distraught, Wilson thought to himself. He wished he knew how to ease her fears a little, but he knew it was useless. Cameron saw the film, Cameron was a doctor and she knew what she was up against.

As she lie on the table before him he told her to extend her arm above her head and she did so. First Wilson injected the anesthetic, followed by the needle used to biopsy the lump.

She didn't say much through the biopsy. Her mind went back to her husband and the numerous tests he endured during his cancer treatment. Now she was enduring them. Cameron squeezed her eyes shut as Wilson inserted the needle into her breast. Wilson noticed the single tear that slid through as he extracted the tissue from her breast.

When the biopsies were complete Cameron sat up and tied close her gown.

"Are you okay?" Wilson asked as she wiped dry the tear that had rolled down her cheek.

"Fine." She hugged her gown closely to her body.

"I'm sending the samples to pathology. I'll expect the results back quickly." Wilson left the room to let Cameron redress. Now all he could do was think positively.

X x

Wilson returned late to his apartment that evening, bag of take-out in hand. He kicked off his loafers next to the door and pulled the fold-up bed from his closet.

Wilson's new apartment was far from impressive. It was the first one he could find after Amber had passed. He couldn't bring himself to keep the old one. The evening he had come home from watching Amber die in the hospital bed he had found her note… He checked into a motel that night and had taken the first apartment he looked at the next day.

House had been to his new place a few times, had mad fun of it--An efficiency apartment with a tiny kitchen complete with 70's style appliances, green shag carpeting, and enough roaches scattering about to make your head spin. Still it was better than the constant painful reminder of the life your dead girlfriend once lived.

Wilson sat down on the bed, flipped on the television, an dug into his Chinese takeout. Minutes later the phone rang and he picked up.

"Dr. Wilson, this is Armetto's calling to confirm your reservations for tomorrow night."

Wilson froze. He had made the reservations months ago, only a week before Amber's death, for Amber's birthday. It was important to him that the day was perfect, and with all the worry over Cameron and the extra work at his office, the day had slipped his mind completely.

"I'm sorry, I won't be," he answered and hung up the phone.

He put down his dinner and leaned back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Tomorrow, Amber's birthday, would have been perfect. But Amber would never get to see tomorrow.

**A/N: Yeah, I write short chapters. I guess that's just the way I like to write. Anyways, thanks for reading so far.**


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